Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here this evening to take part in the adjournment debates, which are always very interesting.
I asked the Minister of Finance when the next federal budget would be tabled. They let the cat out of the bag today: it will be on April 19. Canadians have been waiting two years, and the federal government will finally deign to present them with a budget.
It is important to remember that the 10 Canadian provinces and all G7 countries have been transparent with their people. They have not been afraid to table budgets despite the pandemic and its attendant inconveniences.
When I asked my question, I said that if a family went to a bank to ask for a loan but refused to produce its financial statements, the bank would of course say no. The problem with the Liberal government is that, when it goes to the bank to ask for a loan, it approves its own request. Naturally, we are very afraid that, in the upcoming budget, it will respond to its own request very generously.
We already know that the Liberal government has asked to increase Canada's debt ceiling by $663 billion—not $663 million, mind you, but $663 billion—without presenting a plan to Canadians, a plan to reopen our economy.
We often wonder why the government is waiting until April 19 before presenting Canadians with its first budget in two years. To me, the answer is quite simply that the government is not ready. It wants to present a budget once a majority of the population was vaccinated.
Unfortunately, because of past bad decisions, because of a bad vaccine procurement agreement with a Chinese company, and after putting all its eggs in one basket and being unable to procure vaccines before or at least at the same time as the other G7 countries, we are now lagging behind. That is why we learned today that the next federal budget will be brought down on April 19.
What do we expect to find in that budget?
We expect to find a plan to reopen the economy that will rely above all on vaccinating the majority of Canadians. Unfortunately, we know that we will not be able to meet that objective at the same time as the other countries, because the government procrastinated.
However, other measures definitely need to be implemented. The next budget should have fewer slogans and a lot more money for workers and families.
It is important to protect jobs, especially during this period of economic recovery. Now is not the time to reimagine our economy, as we have heard the Prime Minister say so often. It is time to place our trust in the stable and traditional jobs that have existed in Canada for a long time, because those people deserve to get their jobs back.
The post-pandemic period is not the time to choose who will be the winners and losers, which workers will be favoured by a government and which ones will be overlooked during the next few years.
It is important for the next budget to send a clear message to all Canadian workers, especially women who were seriously impacted by the recent pandemic, such as those working in health care, retail and all highly affected sectors that had to close their doors, that their government has not forgotten them.
We are expecting a true economic recovery plan in the April 19 budget. The minister is promising the budget of her life. Given her past performance, I am immensely worried for the future of my grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.